Some meal memories never fade — I can still taste the milk dinner prepared by Philadelphia Chef Chris Kearse of Will BYOB four years ago on my birthday. A milk dinner. (Sigh.) Can anything be more beautiful? That’s why I am thrilled to be giving away two tickets to the pop-up dinner Kearse will roll out on March […]

Dinner Lab Giveaway with Chris Kearse

Some cheeses inspire you the moment you unwrap them. Their freshness beckons, their rinds beg you to run your fingers across them. Surfaces speak: ripples call to mind tide pools, ridges suggest barnacles. I am speaking about Lakins Gorges Cheese from Rockport, Maine. When I opened the box from their maker, Alison Lakin, I was […]

Lakins Gorges Cheeses from Maine

Few things make me happier than discovering a new cheese. Or a fabulous new cheesemaker. Imagine the bright fever that overcame me when I found a new Pennsylvania triple creme in the cooler at Greensgrow, my local urban farm, several months ago. It was so lush, I began stalking the cheesemaker on Instagram (@milkhousecheese), which led to […]

Valley Milkhouse Cheese Tasting March 13

Every week, people tell me that they are too intimidated to shop at cheese counters. Because they feel unschooled in the world of dairy, they buy shrink-wrapped wedges from the cold case, carefully avoiding the eyes of the cheesemonger. As one man told me recently, “It’s like dealing with a sommelier. I feel so inadequate!” […]

Readers often email for tips on putting together a cheese board. Here are a few suggestions: Pick a theme. When in doubt, choose a variety of cheeses from different milks – cow, sheep, goat, and if you can find it: water buffalo. You can also put together a cheese board by country (French, Italian, or […]

“It all comes back,” writes Joan Didion in her famous essay on the subject of writer’s notebooks. It’s true. It does all come back. For almost three years now, I have recorded every nibble, every recommendation overheard at the cheese counter, along with lists of cheeses to try. Bad Axe. Gamonedo. (I have yet to find either.) But […]